Getting married in India (Foreigner + Indian)

curtdfw

As an American who married an Indian woman in 2007, I'll kick in my two cents worth:

Should I just take a "never been married certificate" to be on the safe side?

You should. I was able to get the equivalent doc from the US Embassy in Delhi with no trouble, but I don't know about the UK situation. Anything you can handle in advance of actually coming to India should make things simpler.

Does the registry office send anything in post to his home address from what you know of?

They sent notices to my wife's and my home addresses, in my case my US address. They did not require that they be returned, though (handy, as I was living in Delhi at the time).

Anyway, after the registration, I would come back to England and then I plan to go back to India for the "solemnization" around October time, in the same office as we registered the marriage. Is this the only time that we would need the three witnesses?

Yes, we brought our three witnesses only for the solemnization event.

Also, who counts as a witness? Must they be friends of his?

We brought my (now) mother-in-law and two of my wife's close friends (one of whom introduced us). I don't think it matters who they are, but they did sign the marriage certificate, which also lists their addresses.

The above reflects the practices at the Saket (Delhi) District Commissioner's Office, summer 2007. I don't recall seeing anything radically different in other posts, but consistency at government offices in India is a problem, so there could be minor differences.

Nick-H

Sarah, thank you for your kind comments. I got married in India in 2005, so it is already a few years ago; whilst I doubt that much has changed, my memory of events is not so reliable. There are quite a few members more recently married in India. Curtdfw has already begun.

I can add...

Certificate of never been married --- there is no such thing in UK. The Foreign & Commonwealth Office can provide you with a Certificate of No Impediment, and the process and details are -->here. That's something I never even knew about when I got married! Divorcees have it easy: they just need the divorce papers.

I always worry about the implications and potential of secret weddings, but hey, as has been pointed out to me on anther thread, that is not my business

I'm confused by registration/solemnisation. Unless you plan a religious wedding, they are one and the same, just one "ceremony". Under the Special Marriage Act, you must give notice 30 days in advance. It should also be at the office where one party has been resident for 30 days; I don't know how you can avoid that.

As far as I know, and have experienced, an Indian marriage certificate is as good to the UK authorities as any other. It has been accepted without question when getting visitor visa for my wife --- and it is a scruffy, typed, paper only.

However, my standard advice is to marry in the country in which you intend to live!

sera-anon

I'm really not used to forums, but I appreciate your inputs very much. The link to the "never married certifcate" is perfect, thank you.

I also worry about having a secret wedding, but after more than a year of discussions with my fiance, he is certain that it's the only option for us. His family are very Christian, and when I visited them, I made the mistake of saying that I am not religious. Apparently they would hold that against me forever!

Also, despite not wanting to, our only option is to get married in India because his visa renewal for England got rejected and he can't come back here until after he has the marriage visa. If only life were simple. I wish I could just marry him here, but I don't know how.

Regarding what Curtdfw said about the registry office sending documents the his wife's address, I think we had best hold off the registry of our marriage until my fiance has moved away from his parents! Seems very risky.

You both seem so lucky in the way that your weddings didn't seem to have to be secretive. Sometimes I wish my fiance would just bite the bullet, tell his family about me and do what he wants to do. There seems to be no way of convincing him though, and it all goes back to me telling his family that I am not religious.

Maybe I am going off topic, but I really appreciate your advice. Now I feel that I should wait a little longer until my fiance is settled in another state in India. Until then I will research the never married certificate and dream of the day that nothing has to be a secret anymore.


Thank you again and sorry.


Sarah

Nick-H

Sarah... what's he going to do? keep you a secret for the rest of your lives? But hey, if you have been having this conversation for a year already, I'm sure you have both been over this, probably many times.

My wife had no living parents, no older relatives, so the problems did not arise for us. I made it clear from the beginning that I had no time for her religion, so I guess it might have been.

sahar6512

Hi,

I am an Indian man living in Saudi Arabia,I want to travel to Indian (Delhi) and marry there. I want to marry an Iranian woman,We are both Muslim,

Could someone please help me. What should I do, what documents do we need, and how long will this process take?

Please, please please help.

Saulteaux_woman

Why dont you just say that you now have changed your mind and want to be a devout christian, a little white lie cant hurt so you can get your marriage done properly. My fren is a devout christian but converted to Hindu yet she is still very much catholic, but her husband family believes she's a practising hindu. They dont live near the parents so this works for them, I'm sure since you'll be in england it wont be a problem to pretend in India....just a thought.

brishti

good grief
how on earth can one rationalise the inability of the man to take on his family is quite... sheesh.

nobody is saying it is easy - but families do come around - next year, year after next, whenever.
what kind of a man is thus - who cannot stand his ground ?
[keep in mind - i am an indian and i have seen more than enough of this emotional hogwash in my lifetime]

sarah - telling the truth is not your problem.
the problem is your fiance - not his family.
giving into the whims and fancies of his family - does not mean he loves them.
however... telling the truth and facing the consequences would prove
that he holds his family and you in high regard.





all the very best either way.
:brishti

mirjamd

I don't know anything about sending certificates home, we got it straight away to take home. This was in Chennai, not sure whether it is any different in other states...

Please also remember that you have to get married within 3 months of giving the first notice. It has a minimum of 1 month and maximum of 3 months validity.

sera-anon

Hello everyone, it's been a while since I last checked this.

There is good news at last - my fiance finally felt brave enough to tell all his family about me, and to start with everyone was happy about it except his mother. Now even his mother has come around to the idea and is very happy and excited about the wedding! We never thought the day would come, but I feel so much better now because there are no more secrets. It's definitely the best way (I knew it all along, it was just my fiance who thought his family would never agree).
They don't even mind about the Christian thing and it seems that we were just worrying about nothing.

The next step is to get this certificate of no impediment and marry in Gujarat! I'm going to read through all advice again and make sure I follow everything that you guys say - it's really the best advice on the Internet. Yesterday I paid a solicitor £75and I would've much rather paid you people £75!

Thank you again for the right advice

A happy Sarah + fiance!

Shivani Skydancer

Great news Sarah! Honesty always is the best way... Wish you all the best and much happiness :-)

Nick-H

Congratulations, and very best wishes for the happy day

namaste_cat

congrats, Sara! Have a happy life with your Indian guy (& his family)

federica

Great to hear that his family is accepting you and you both can look forward to your marriage in a more relaxed way. Best of luck for your future!

kmalik

Sarah - Congratulations! I am happy for you. This is the only right way to begin this phase...

Brishti - Spot on!

Sahar6512 - Looks like your post got lost in the celebration of the good news from Sarah. I am no expert at this, but seems like the same process applies to you, provided you plan to marry under the special marriages act. The steps seem to be:

• Some document indicating that neither of you are currently married. This can be as simple as an affidavit.
• 30 days notice at the registrar where one of you has resided recently.
• Registration of marriage in front of registrar and 3 witnesses.

Hope that helps!